Longitudinal Changes in Self-Reported Alcohol Consumption by Mothers' During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Previous research shows that drinking by mothers was higher during the initial stages of the pandemic. Less is known about whether these drinking levels were maintained years after the first stay-at-home orders. Using three waves of data, each approximately a year apart, drinks per day remain elevated, whereas drinking frequency and continued volume have decreased during subsequent waves.

Impact of shifting engagement strategies during COVID: Are rural counties on equal footage? The Ohio HEALing Communities Study (HCS)

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: This study examines the impact of COVID restrictions on the process of engagement in the Ohio-HCS site. The goals are to: examine the impact of COVID restrictions on the process of engagement;2) determine differences in process measures by geographic region (rural, urban). METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Engagement activities collected as part of the Ohio HCS include an engagement log, coalition meeting type and attendance, tracker of implementation strategies. Study period: January 2020 to October 31, 2021. Measures are defined below. Meeting occurrence, type by month: Data report on whether a meeting occurred, was scheduled and cancelled, or a scheduled off-month. The meeting platform was also recorded (in-person, hybrid, virtual). Coalition meeting attendance by month: Number of community members in attendance. Engagement communications by type, by month: Counts and percent (types: email, calls, zoom, or in person). Evidence-Based Practices(EBP) delivery option: in person, virtual, or hybrid. Counties: 9 Ohio counties, 5 rural, 4 urban. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Coalition meetings were cancelled in 40% of rural counties;none in the urban counties. Two rural counties switched back to in person or hybrid meetings by late 2020;urban counties remain 100% virtual. Rural counties had a drop-off in attendance in June 2021 with no decrease seen in urban counties. During first two months of 2020 engagement in rural and urban communities occurred in person;by March that shifted to 80% by email, which continued within rural counties. In urban counties that dropped to 50% by August of 2020, with zoom calls accounting for 30%. In-person strategies for naloxone distribution remained high in both county types (90%);urban counties use of in-person only strategies for medication for OUD (rural: 83%, urban 52%) and safer prescribing (rural:74%, urban:10%) were much lower than rural counties. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Results show that rural counties continue to rely on in person engagement strategies, making COVID restrictions more disruptive for rural counties. These results suggest that new supports and strategies may be needed to assure that rural regions are equally equipped to engage in research in a virtual environment.

Daily Stress and Use of Aggressive Discipline by Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

To assess the relationship between stress throughout the day and aggressive discipline practices by parents during COVID-19 stay at home orders. For this study, participants took baseline survey online, then provided data three times a day (10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.) for 14 consecutive days using Ecological Momentary Assessment procedures. Data were collected from 323 participants, covering 9,357 observations from April 13 to May 27, 2020 in Central Ohio during stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. Use of aggressive discipline, including corporal punishment and psychological aggression, was measured using the Dimensions of Discipline Inventory. For each higher level of stress, parents had 1.3 greater odds of using aggressive discipline. Having used aggressive discipline at baseline was related to three times greater odds of using it during the study period. Higher situational stress was associated with use of aggressive parenting. When combined with less contact with mandatory reporters, this places children at risk for abuse and neglect that may go without detection and intervention for longer time-periods. First responders and medical professionals become more important in identifying and reporting suspected child maltreatment, as this may be a child's only contact with a mandated professional for six months to a year. Well child visits, routine vaccinations, and problem-focused care are important opportunities to assess parents' stress and discipline practices that may be suggestive of abuse or neglect.

Understanding at-the-moment stress for parents during COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions.

RATIONALE: In spring 2020, many states in the United States enacted stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of COVID-19 and lessen effects on hospitals and health care workers. This required parents to act in new roles without much support. Although studies have asked parents about stress before and during the pandemic, none have examined how stress may have fluctuated throughout the day and the characteristics related to those daily changes. OBJECTIVE: Our study assesses how time-varying (e.g., presence of a focal child) and day-varying (e.g., weekend vs. weekday) factors were related to parents' level of stress. METHODS: We use Ecological Momentary Assessment to examine stress three times a day (10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.) for 14 days. We include two different dates hypothesized to be related to parents' stress levels: (1) when Ohio announced schools would go virtual for the rest of the academic year and (2) when most retail businesses were allowed to re-open. Our sample of 332 individuals, recruited via Facebook, Craigslist, and word of mouth, completed 13,360 of these brief surveys during April-May 2020. Data were analyzed using generalized ordered logit models. RESULTS: Parents report lower levels of stress when completing the 9 p.m. survey, but higher levels when they were at work, during weekdays (compared to weekends) or when they were with the focal child. COVID-19 milestone dates were not related to stress levels. CONCLUSIONS: Parents need some form of respite (e.g. child care, child-only activities) to reduce stress, especially during the week when parents are juggling their outside employment and their child(ren)'s schooling. Providing parents with skills and tools to identify and reduce stress, such as apps monitoring heart rate or providing deep breathing techniques, may be one way of helping parents cope with extremely stressful situations.

Stress, alcohol use, and punitive parenting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Emerging research suggests that parents are experiencing heightened stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parental stress is a risk factor for harsh or punitive parenting, and this association may be exacerbated by the use of alcohol. OBJECTIVE: We examine whether parental stress is associated with use of punitive parenting, as well as whether this association is modified by drinking pattern. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: We used advertisements and word-of-mouth to recruit 342 parents living in Central Ohio during the initial stay-at-home order for COVID-19. METHODS: We used geographic ecological momentary assessment (gEMA) to measure parental stress and punitive parenting during three time periods (10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.) over a period of fourteen days using an app downloaded to their cellular telephone. Participants also completed a longer baseline survey. We used nested multilevel ordinal regression models, where at-the-moment assessments (Level 1) were nested within individuals (Level 2) to analyze data. RESULTS: Higher levels of parental stress [OR = 1.149 (95 % CI = 1.123, 1.176)] and later time of day [OR = 1.255 (95 % CI = 1.146, 1.373)] were positively related to odds of punitive parenting. Drinking pattern was not significantly related to punitive parenting in models with demographic covariates. Parents who drank alcohol both monthly and weekly and had higher levels of stress had greater odds of punitive parenting than parents with high levels of stress who abstain from alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol may be an accelerant in the use of punitive parenting for parents experiencing stress. As alcohol use increases during COVID-19, children may be at higher risk for punitive parenting.